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KO File Photo By Abid Bhat
New Delhi- The Union health ministry on Saturday asked the Jammu and Kashmir administration to take necessary steps under the 'Test-Track-Treat-Vaccinate-Covid Appropriate Behaviour' strategy to control the spread of COVID-19 and reduce fatality.
The move comes in view of rising cases of the infection, weekly positivity rates and weekly deaths in some districts.
Referring to a letter sent to all states/UTs on November 27 in the context of the new Omicron variant, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Saturday said all states have been advised to undertake enhanced surveillance of international travellers, monitor emerging hotspots, prompt contact tracing of positive people, besides sending all positive samples for genome sequencing, early identification of cases and review of health infrastructure preparedness, and most importantly to focus on IEC and community sensitisation.
In a letter addressed to the additional Chief Secretary, department of health and family welfare, Vivek Bhardawaj, he pointed out that Jammu and Kashmir, has reported 4,806 new cases in the month ending December 3, with a few districts such as Kathua, Jammu, Ganderbal and Baramulla showing an increase in the previous week.
Giving a detailed break-up of cases, Bhushan says that Covid-19 cases witnessed alarming spike of 726.53% between 19 Nov to 25 in Kathua district when just 49 cases were registered during this period.
Similarly, Jammu witnessed an increase of 53.81%, Ganderbal 22.33% and Baramulla 21.84% between the third week of November to the last week of the month.
'In this context, required necessary steps to control the spread of infection and reduce fatality need to be taken as per the ongoing strategy of Test-Track-Treat-Vaccinate-Covid Appropriate Behaviour to keep the situation under control,' he underlined.
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare will continue to provide requisite support to states/UTs in the ongoing and collective efforts against COVID-19, he added.
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